Masking the Fae King: Bramble's Edge Academy Year 2 (Reverse Harem Romance)

by Brenda Trim

  “What sort of magic is this?” The dragon demanded as smoke poured out of his nose. Maurelle assumed it was a male given the large member hanging between the back of it’s legs.

  Ryker took the protective charm back and slipped it into his pocket. “This is Peridun magic. It was given to me to hide my true identity,” Ryker explained. The smoke stopped and the dragon seemed to crumple to the ground.

  “Why do you hide? Mag Mell needs you. We are all dying because you refuse to stop the dark mage.”

  Ryker shook his head and held up his hands with his palms out. “It’s not that I refuse to stop the dark mage. I only recently discovered I was the King’s heir.”

  Maurelle knelt back down and removed her jacket to press it to Brokk’s shoulder. He was lying in a pool of blood and his face was now pale as the moon. Sol stepped forward and stood next to Ryker.

  “My life is in danger, and I am but a youth. I do not have the skills necessary to beat our enemy.”

  Sol placed his hand on Ryker’s arm. “Our King is learning as fast as he can to take his throne and remove evil from our lands. He would like to establish an alliance with your King. We ask that his identity be kept secret until he takes his rightful place.”

  Ryker glanced over at Sol who had to have been reading up on the royal family or royal etiquette or something. That sounded like an official proposal.

  The dragon wheezed when he took his next breath. “I am King Ryujin and accept your alliance. Although there are less than one hundred left in my kingdom, and most are not able to leave our caves anymore.”

  “Is it the dark magic?” Ryker asked as he crossed his arms over his chest and stood with his feet apart.

  “Our water supply is slowly poisoning us due to the contamination, but someone has been stealing my energy for decades. I no longer have the ability to protect my people and have no heir. If this dark mage manages to take all of my power, then I will be lost to him and dragons will die with me.”

  Maurelle kept pressure on Brokk’s wound and was glad when the bleeding seemed to slow. Her eyes were glued to the exchange between the two kings.

  “There is a dark object causing the water pollution. We haven’t been able to find it, but I will not stop searching. I need you to hold on and fight this power transference. I have a feeling the spell was cast to accelerate your demise, as well as me. They have no idea I am at the school, but I killed one of their minions last year.”

  “They’re throwing darts at a board, hoping to hit something vital,” Maurelle observed from her position on the floor.

  “Yes, Braveheart, I suspect you are correct,” Ryker replied as he gave her a smile and looked at Brokk before turning back to the dragon. “I will find whatever is cursing the academy and seeping into the ground water. Then I will discover who has done this and eliminate them. In the meantime, how can we help you?”

  “Cleaning the water supply will be enough to help me and my knights survive. They can share their energy with me if they are in good health. My mantle is what’s being siphoned, so having healthy subjects will ensure my survival,” Ryujin replied.

  “I can cleanse your water before I head back to campus to continue my search for the spell,” Ryker offered. “It won’t keep it from being poisoned again, but it will give you fresh water while we search.”

  “My uncles created a temporary barrier keeping our water supply from mixing with the ground water,” Calla added. “You could do the same thing until we remove the threat.”

  “I’ve never done it before, but I’ve been learning one crisis at a time, so I am certain I can manage something. Will you take us to your cave system?”

  “Even if all you can manage is to temporarily cleanse our water, it will be a miracle. I will take you there now,” Ryujin announced as he lowered his wing to Ryker. Ryker climbed on his back and settled between his shoulder blades. Sol was right behind him with Daine staying with them. The dragon king spread his wings and tried to take off, but his body fell back to the ground. “Fuck. Seems as if we will be taking the long way.”

  “We will all go,” Brokk interjected through gritted teeth.”

  “Can you walk?” Ryker asked as he looked him over.

  Nodding Brokk sat up with a grimace. “Yes. The wound is healing. I don’t want to stay here in the event anyone caught your energy while the talisman was off.”

  Ryker’s eyes widened, telling Maurelle he hadn’t considered that before climbing onto the dragon king’s back. Jumping down and reaching Brokk’s side, Ryker helped him up and draped his good arm over his shoulders.

  Maurelle fell into step behind them and their group followed the dragon through the trees. They passed an herb she recalled from their list, and she made a mental note to collect as they walked, so they didn’t get assigned another detention.

  This was going to be a long day, but they were heading to the dragon colony. Never in her life did she imagine she would encounter so many different creatures. Ryker brought more than passion to her. He allowed her to be part of something bigger than herself, and no matter what happened in their future, he had her love and loyalty for the rest of her long life.

  Chapter 14

  Ryker helped Brokk take a seat on a boulder in the hot cave. They’d entered the dragon king’s home a few minutes before and left the cold weather behind. It was like a sauna in the below ground. He expected it to be cold like normal caves, but he should have known better.

  Dragons breathed fire and lived close to lava beds underground. Of course, their home would be hot. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he glanced around in awe. There were dragons of all sizes and colors lounging on the sand near the glowing orange lake.

  Ryker’s elements told him water was nearby, but he hadn’t seen it yet. He was too distracted by the scent of degeneration filling the air. These dragons were dying like their king said.

  “Is this all of your kind?” Ryker asked Ryujin.

  “This is only one chamber of our lair. There are two more with similar numbers. As you can see, we are not doing well.” Ryker listened to the dragons and knew Ryujin was correct. Saving these creatures was as important as the Fae. Dragons were elemental beings connected to fire. Without them everything in Mag Mell would suffer.

  Something told Ryker that the realm would lose fire altogether, taking an entire section of Fae with it in one fell swoop. Whoever was behind this was killing the planet. He couldn’t believe they intended for this to happen. Why would anyone want to destroy a planet?

  Shaking off the negative thoughts, he focused on the issue at hand. “Show me the water source and I will cleanse it. The rest of you access your elements like we did in the outer lands. I am going to include as much of the forest as I can. This new poison is spreading far faster than I previously believed and I need to beat it back.”

  Maurelle squeezed his fingers and glanced up at him with bright eyes. Bending down, he placed a kiss to her lips. What started as innocent quickly deepened. When he broke away, he noticed several dragons were watching him and the king was waiting in the arch leading to another section of the cave system.

  Ryker followed Ryujin to their underground lake. It reminded him of the comment about there being an underground lake the water students used to practice at. He wondered if that location was as stunning as the dragon cave before them.

  There was a sandy shore and trees, ground cover and shrubs filling the space. It wasn’t as warm here, but that was likely because the top was open to the sky outside. The sun beat down on a group of younger looking dragons of various colors. There were fruit trees that were limp with leaves turning brown.

  “Look. It’s brahmi,” Maurelle called out as she crossed to a group of trees close to the water’s edge. “Can we take some back to campus? We need it to make a pain-relieving medicine,” she explained to the dragon king.

  Ryujin nodded his head. “Consider it payment for your help in improving our situation.”

  “Like last night, we al
l need to access our elements and pour them into the land before us. Spread them out as far as you can. The water of this lake will release its taint in the air to be taken away on the wind through the opening up top,” Ryker explained. Ryker braced himself and prayed he had enough energy to at least clear this lake. He hadn’t gotten any sleep after returning to his room. He’d been too keyed up and worried about their plight.

  Certain he was as strong as he was going to get, he opened himself to his elements. His air had always been the strongest, but due to practicing his water recently the power in that element had grown exponentially. He was certain the others would follow suit and needed to be careful when he practiced in classes. He couldn’t let on that he was growing faster than expected.

  Closing his eyes, he spread his hands out to his sides. Electricity seemed to unfurl in his being and spread out to his skin. The others were accessing their magic and he was suddenly flooded with elemental energy that flowed from everyone to fill the air around them.

  Last night his heart raced and sweat beaded his brow. This time his heart wasn’t pounding quite so hard, but he was panting already. The surge briefly invigorated him before dropping out. He was exhausted, but he would pour every ounce of himself into this task.

  Bright blue light burst from Ryker’s body responding to his determination. It was filled with his unique elemental power and he was about to panic about being caught, until dragon energy twined with that of his friends to mask his mantle.

  Calling on his air, water and earth, Ryker lifted his hands. Trees, shrubs, ground cover, dirt and water floated into the air and hovered there. He then sent his fire racing through the collection. Sensing what he was doing, Ryujin added dragon fire to the mix. Water exploded over the scene like a bomb, drenching everything.

  He sagged as fatigue crashed over him and threatened to overwhelm him. Reaching deep into his core, he mixed the energies which then made the blue light flash followed by thunder.

  He fell to his knees and held his hands up to continue cleansing the dark energy from the elements. Air whipped around the area as everything fell back into place. The water didn’t all return to the lake, but he’d done what he needed.

  Sol and Daine helped him to his knees and Maurelle joined them. Together they called all the water together then sent it to the dry lakebed. The dragons stirred and Ryujin was standing at his full height of over twenty feet. Ryker hadn’t realized how diminished the massive beast had been before.

  “I haven’t felt this good in decades, Ryker. You and your friends have saved dragonkind. We are forever in your debt.”

  A smile spread over Ryker’s face and he noticed the same thing he had in the outer lands. The suffocating feeling was gone, replaced with all he could describe as hope.

  “I cannot cast a barrier under the lake. I don’t have enough power,” Ryker informed him.

  “Not to worry, I will call upon mages or a Peridun to assist with that, now that the taint has been removed,” the dragon king informed them.

  “I fear Ryker’s actions might have brought attention to your caves, so please be on guard. We aren’t certain if they can track him when he uses that much magic or not,” Maurelle informed Ryujin.

  “We will be vigilant, and we will not let any information slip about the King’s return. If you need assistance, do not hesitate to call on us.”

  Ryker clapped his hand on the dragon king’s foreleg and looked up to meet one of his eyes. “I won’t. And, if things go south again, please send word to me through a Peridun.”

  Maurelle gathered a bit of the brahmi and they took their leave. Ryker was barely able to stand upright and dreaded the long walk through the forest. The second they stepped outside the caves he noticed the buoyancy in the leaves and shrubs.

  “Let’s find the last of the herbs and get back to the dorms. I’m fucking exhausted,” he grumbled as he twined his fingers with Maurelle’s and started walking. They’d accomplished a lot over the past two days, and he felt every bit of the effort in his body.

  “Who’s that?” Brokk muttered from his prone position on the couch when the knock sounded on their door. They’d all returned from the forest a few hours before and fell asleep the second their heads hit the pillow. They were debating going for food at the moment. Ryker was hungry, but he didn’t feel like going to the mess hall.

  “No idea,” Ryker said before he pulled the door open. “Well, hello Braveheart. This is a surprise.”

  “My roommates returned, and I didn’t want to stay in my room any longer. Can I hang out with you guys?”

  Ryker leaned down and pressed his mouth to hers. He intended to be gentle and go slow, but his need got the better of him and he deepened the kiss, picking her up a second later.

  A moan left his throat as she wrapped her legs around his waist, bringing her core in contact with his groin. Fabric separated them, but his hardening shaft felt her heat and wetness seeping through her cotton pants.

  He would never get tired of the way his chest warmed and filled to bursting when he was with her. She was sexy as sin and drove him crazy with lust. He swore his dick got hard the second he smelled her scent or saw her smile.

  “Mmmm. Now, that’s a nice surprise,” Brokk acknowledged. He sat in one of the armchairs in the room and was cradling his arm to his chest. He’d refused to go to the clinic, saying his natural healing had already kicked in and was speeding the process right along.

  Ryker broke the kiss and smirked at his friend as he sat on the couch with Maurelle on his lap. Her cheeks were flushed, and her lips were now swollen from his nipping. He brushed the pink locks from her face and tucked them behind her ears.

  “You guys want some privacy?” Sol asked.

  Ryker kept his eyes locked on Maurelle. The flush turned bright red and she bit her lower lip. He didn’t say anything. If he was honest with himself, he was unsure how he felt. He was very possessive of Maurelle, but he liked the idea of sharing her with this select group of males. Going from that to actually doing it was another story altogether.

  “You don’t have to leave,” Maurelle replied as she squirmed on his lap. The movement was pure torture. “Not to participate or anything, but it was kinda hot knowing you were watching me.”

  “I can’t do more than watch anyway,” Brokk admitted. “Shit. I don’t even know if I can stroke one off with this fucking arm.”

  That made Maurelle break the connection between them. Turning her head, she smirked at Brokk and shook her head. “Sounds like someone needs some assistance.” It was comical to see how fast Brokk sat up. “There is a dorm full of females upstairs you can ask for a hand.”

  Brokk sat back and winced as the movement jostled his arm. “I’d rather see your sexiness in action, Elle. No one compares to your beauty.”

  “Agreed,” Sol and Daine echoed as they got comfortable.

  Maurelle lowered her head to rest it on Ryker’s shoulder as she huffed out a breath that was shaky. “Now, I don’t think I can do anything.” Her words were muffled against his body, making him smile at the challenge they possessed.

  “We will see about that, love.” With that Ryker lifted her head with his finger. Before their eyes connected, he pressed his lips to hers. Their mouths crashed together and he immediately took control, delving his tongue between her plump lips.

  As he tangled with her mouth, he ran his hands down her arms and over to cup her breasts through the dragonfly t-shirt she had on. When his hand brushed over her breasts, he noted she wasn’t wearing a bra.

  In a swift move, he tugged the fabric over her head and tossed it aside. She looked at him with lust blazing in her grey orbs. Her hips started moving back and forth over his erection. Groaning, he kissed a path over her chest to her nipple. Sucking it into his mouth, he flicked it with his tongue. She cried out and arched her back, pressing more of her flesh into his mouth.

  His patience was nearly gone as he cursed their clothing. Lifting her from his lap, he shoved the
fabric of her pants down. She toed off her shoes while her wings flared to the sides, giving her balance. He missed her hands on him until she gave him a sultry look and bent over to remove her bottoms. The move was so sensual it made his mouth go dry.

  “Someone’s anxious to fuck me,” she murmured with a smile while watching him fumble with the button on his pants. She reached out and ran her hand along the arch of his wing. It distracted him with his hips lifted and his pants around his thighs. Her fingers teased his wing joint before moving outward, making him groan.

  Grabbing her hips, he was about to jerk her back onto his lap when she tsked him with a wave of one finger. “I am going to remove your clothes before we continue. Reaching down, he pulled his shirt over his head. He stopped with the fabric covering his head and cursed when her hand brushed his erection and snagged the waist of his jeans.

  He didn’t bother lifting his hips yet. Instead, he leaned forward and tucked his wings close so he could remove the shirt. With the cotton in his hand, he watched as Maurelle knelt down and pushed his pants to the floor.

  Her hot breath ghosted the head of his cock and his hips jerked toward her mouth. If she sucked him into her wet cavern, he would lose it, and he needed to be inside her right away.

  The sound of three other zippers echoed through the room. He noticed the corner of Maurelle’s mouth lifted in a smile. Focused on getting inside her molten sheath, he gripped her under the arms and lifted her onto his lap.

  Maurelle mewed when her wet slit rubbed along his hard cock. He thrust his hips several more times ensuring he was lubricated with her arousal, so she didn’t have any discomfort when he entered her. The fact that he could even consider her at the moment was evidence of how much he cared for her.

  “Fuck,” Ryker murmured as he poised his shaft at her entrance. “Are you ready for me, Braveheart? I can’t hold back any longer.”

  Shifting her hips, she tried to plunge down onto his length. He barely stopped her before he bottomed out inside her tight depths. “More than ready, Ryk. Fuck me,” she demanded.